Debunking the myth of the traditional Zimbabwean woman
I don’t think that when Rumbi Katedza wrote Playing Warriors she had a great message in mind. I think she simply wanted to tell a story she and the women she knew could relate to. The film is a snapshot in the lives of Nyarai (Kudzai Sevenzo), Maxi (Nothando Lobengula) and Nonto (Prudence Katomeni-Mbofana), three women in their late twenties. Maxi is an irreverent lawyer who is having an affair with a prominent politician. Nonto is the quiet friend who is about to be married and Nyarai, the central character, is a high flying career woman with a meddlesome mother.
From the beginning of the film it is obvious that Nyarai does not fit in the mould of the traditional Zimbabwean girl. The film opens with a dream sequence set in ancient Zimbabwe. A young warrior places the lion he has slain at Nyarai’s father’s feet. He, apparently, is seeking Nyarai’s hand in marriage. Nyarai’s father looks to his wife for approval, this she gives with a smile. Everything appears as one would expect on such an occasion. The camera focuses on Nyarai’s face and the audience finds that rather than being breathless with excitement at having such gift presented for her hand, Nyarai does not look as pleased. In fact she almost looks annoyed.
Traditional Zimbabwean women are supposed to want marriage above everything else. Particularly to a man who so obviously can provide. In the film is it understandable that Nyarai will not commit to her ridiculously self absorbed toy-boy Che. Their relationship is simply about sex. It is he who needs her to survive. Nyarai’s relationship with Leslie, a well-heeled divorcée arranged for and heartily supported by her mother is far more complex. He goes to great pains to woo her, closing down a restaurant just for her and performing that rarity among Zimbabwean men, cooking her a meal. Even the audience feels that there might be a happy ending. But Leslie is merely mutton dressed as lamb. He confesses a bad relationship with his children, and gives them the kind of parenting that reduces his role in their lives to a bank account with a face. He is arrogant, impatient and only acknowledges Nyarai’s relevance as his woman, not as her own person. This film is bold in claiming that women need more from their men than material security. Despite his money and their sexual chemistry Nyarai rejects Leslie because he doesn’t listen and therefore doesn’t understand her needs.
Nyarai’s mother, who embodies the traditional and cultural expectation placed upon young women, is perplexed by her oldest daughter’s impractical insistence on marrying only for love.
Maxi’s brazen and abrasive rejection of her burden of expectation provides an alternative angle to Nyarai’s gentle questioning. Fiercely independent, Maxi is everything a good Zimbabwean girl shouldn’t be. She smokes, she’s loud in her denouncement of traditions and cultural roles and she’s having sex with a married politician for pleasure and professional gain. But despite herself and everything she knows to be true about her lover, she falls in love with him.
In contrast to Maxi’s and to a lesser extent Nyarai’s tumultuous relationship with tradition is Nonto’s active acceptance of it. The film takes the audience through her experiences as a bride. When she announces that she is getting married her friends question her decision not to have premarital sex and how she would cope with the disappointment should he be a bad lover. But Nonto is steadfast in her faith in her relationship, and as a born again Christian in the wisdom of her God. The film also depicts the processes involved in traditional marriages. There is a hilarious roora scene, where the groom’s munyayi (negotiator) uncomfortably pleads with Nonto’s uncles to lower the rusambo (bride price), and another showing the bridal party practising masteps (wedding dance) with a dictatorial choreographer.
On the surface Playing Warriors is a feel good chick flick. But it is also a film that documents the deeper change within Zimbabwe. It is a bold in showing independent free-thinking women who are in full-ownership of their sexuality, and demand more than material fulfilment from their relationships. It is also one of the first feature films about Zimbabwean women that does not characterise them as victims of male-driven tradition. I think the greatest lesson of the film is that it is possible for traditions and cultures to evolve, and change is not always about leaving the values that are important, such as family and community, behind.